Ask most investors what determines their long-term returns and they’ll most likely talk about their asset allocation, the way they select their fund managers or their track records at getting macro calls right.
If you're planning to invest $500,000 in Australia in 2026, the timing may be in your favour. With the Reserve Bank holding the cash rate steady at 3.6% and markets entering a phase of cautious recovery, investors are navigating a landscape shaped by stabilising inflation, firmer demand, and new appetite for resilient, income-producing assets.
Most market commentaries explain major price moves after the fact with tidy causes that sound obvious only in hindsight. In my opinion, that’s not an intellectually honest approach in the current environment.
If you're planning to invest $500,000 in Australia in 2026, the timing may be in your favour. With the Reserve Bank holding the cash rate steady at 3.6% and markets entering a phase of cautious recovery, investors are navigating a landscape shaped by stabilising inflation, firmer demand, and new appetite for resilient, income-producing assets.
Most market commentaries explain major price moves after the fact with tidy causes that sound obvious only in hindsight. In my opinion, that’s not an intellectually honest approach in the current environment.
It’s been a torrid couple of years for ASX smaller companies with most investors turning their backs on the asset class like the plague. The extent of their recent disfavour has been hard to fathom given the positive trend in equities since the pandemic.
This raises the question: is now the right time to revisit small and micro caps whilst others remain fearful? To answer that, we’ll need to delve into the reasons for the recent underperformance for a steer as to what’s coming next…
You may have noticed you’re hearing more about private debt (also known as private credit) as an asset class these days. You’re not imagining it. Private debt is booming as an asset class. Preqin estimates the sector’s assets under management will grow from US$1.5 trillion in 2022 to US$2.8 trillion by 2028, reflecting growing awareness of the sector’s solid income generation credentials.
After the rapid rise in the number of ETFs on offer, investors are faced with more choice than ever when it comes to selecting funds. And with typical managed fund fees running at many multiples of typical ETF fees, investors are increasingly asking the question… is it worth paying the higher fees for an actively managed fund?
Australia has a famously large population of highly qualified fund managers considering the size of the country. According to KPGM, Australia’s 647 fund management groups manage $4.3 trillion across 6,451 products. That represents around $170k under management for each and every Australian resident, so it’s a sizeable portion of the nation’s wealth. This translates into opportunity for individual investors who know what to look for in the vast smorgasbord of fund management options at their disposal.
Picking the right fund manager to manage your assets is arguably an underrated and under-discussed process which is as complex as stock picking. As with all financial decisions, it’s important to ensure your fund managers’ strategy and process aligns with your risk appetite, return objectives, and time horizon.
You’ll also want your fund managers to have conviction in what they’re doing. On that front, there’s one question investors you can ask prospective fund managers which reveals their genuine conviction level above all other questions… do you have skin in the game?
It’s long been recognised that stock markets have a habit of making intelligent people look stupid.
The fundamental reason is simple but often ignored… share price movements can be wild and unpredictable, and often confound investor’s expectations. And yet, with investors increasingly watching their stock price movements like hawks the temptation to account for unexpected stock moves with rational explanations often leads to sub-optimal results.